Marina’s magical run ends

Mike Sciacca

The bright lights and big surroundings of the Pond of Anaheim is what

the Marina High boys’ basketball program deserved Saturday.

The Vikings were there, as part of a day-long celebration of boys’

prep basketball, where a total of six division champions would be

crowned by late that night.

Although Marina’s magical playoff run ended in a 64-57 loss to

Mission Viejo in the Division I-A final, it’s journey to the Pond

proved no less than captivating.

The Vikings opened the postseason with a win on the road, then won

three-straight home games to advance to the school’s first

championship game appearance since 1991 -- when it also finished

runner-up.

Marina led after one quarter, was down four at halftime, but kept

pace with the Diablos throughout the second half.

They were within two points of the lead late in the game, but

Mission Viejo scored the final five points to secure the victory.

Senior Matt Brennan scored 24 points to lead Marina, as well as

all game scorers.

“We could have played better,” Marina senior Stephen Becker said.

“We weren’t as ‘on’ as we had wanted to be. Still, we have plenty to

be proud of.”

Becker is one of nine seniors on a Marina roster made up of local

youngsters, many of whom have played together since their Huntington

Beach National Junior Basketball days, as well as through local

middle schools.

Marina Coach Roger Holmes could see something special about this

group of senior players, even when it entered the school as freshman.

Four players -- Brennan, Becker, Jeff Rivera and Matt Lee -- have

played varsity since their sophomore year, and James Lambert has been

a varsity letterman all four years.

“We had high hopes for this group ever since that freshman year,”

Holmes said. “Our biggest basketball question was how they were going

to deal with the lack of size issue. As a group, it has been fun to

watch the development over the course of their varsity careers.

“They have learned how to compete at the highest level and used

that experience to push their senior season all the way to The Pond.

”

Size was a factor in Saturday’s final.

The Vikings, whose tallest player was 6-foot-6 junior Jeff

Delaunay, went up against a Mission Viejo roster that listed four

players at 6-6 and its tallest at 6-9.

Marina, which won the 2003 Sunset League title, was one basket

short of getting a repeat title when it fell to Los Alamitos in the

regular season finale in February.

“We lost it by a basket, and that didn’t sit well,” Holmes said.

The Vikings left that loss behind in the regular season, then came

out with a defensive vengeance in the postseason.

Entering the playoffs as the Sunset League’s No. 3 entry, they

toppled San Antonio League runner-up West Covina, 83-68, in the

first-round. They followed that with a 48-45 victory over South Coast

League co-champion El Toro, the same league from which Mission Viejo

hails. Next, Marina surprised Marmonte League co-champion Thousand

Oaks, 66-54, and in the semifinal round, held down Simi Valley,

47-43, a team that finished third to Thousand Oaks in the Marmonte

League race.

“We have been led by our defense in the playoffs, and that’s

because our guys realized just how important defense is during the

playoffs,” Holmes said. “Again, experience played a huge role for

us.”

During the season, Lambert led Marina in scoring with a 17 points

per game average.

Brennan was right behind Lambert at 16.5.

Becker finished with an 11 points and nine assists per game

average, and became Marina’s single-game assists record holder by

dishing out 18 in the win at West Covina.

Those 18 assists also established him as the school’s career

assists leader. He replaced Rich Branning, who went on to star at

Notre Dame, as the school’s all-time assists leader.

“The best thing about our group is that the are all class people,”

Holmes said. “We pride ourselves on having this type of kid in our

program and these guys are such good people, that it is a pleasure to

work with them.”

Prior to Saturday’s championship tipoff, player parents, as well

as former Viking players and some fans, gathered in The Pond parking

lot for a large tailgate party.

The group greeted the Marina players off the team bus with loud

cheers.

“The Pond was fun,” Holmes said. “It was really an experience to

come out of the tunnel and into an arena with 17,000 seats.

“After player introductions, we turned back and saw that our

Marina section was full and that there were so many people there,

rooting us on. It really was great to play in such a setting.”

Becker, who said he had an “absolute feeling” about the potential

of this team when the current seniors were freshmen, said playing at

The Pond fulfilled one dream.

“Our goal was to play for a CIF championship, and we did,” he

said. “Our goal was to not only play in a championship game, but win

a CIF title. We were disappointed to not win it but, in some aspect,

we accomplished a lot by just getting there. It’s been a great

season.”

But the season wasn’t over for Marina after Saturday’s game.

On Tuesday , the Vikings (24-8) traveled to Oceanside to play El

Camino (30-2) of the CIF-San Diego Section in the first-round of the

CIF Southern California Regionals Division I playoffs.

The winner of the regionals tournament advances to the CIF State

Championships later this month.